HEIFEIGU -Chapter 49

The first to wake the next day was Xuan Caiyan. At dawn, she went out with a plain face, her hair tied into a high bun, looking pure and neat.

Yesterday, after returning to their rooms, they had hung stainless-steel water bottles on the campfire frame. By now, the handles had cooled, and Xuan Caiyan took them down one by one, pouring the water into plastic bottles.

This was something Xie Jixing had taught her right before they dispersed yesterday.

She placed a bottle of water at the door of each person’s room and then squatted by the innermost house with the remaining two bottles, waiting for others.

Qian Shuyun went out first. When he opened the door, he saw Xuan Caiyan.

“Teacher Xuan?”

“Oh, Teacher Qian, here’s your water.” Xuan Caiyan handed him the bottle and continued squatting.

Then, she stayed squatting until Xie Jixing appeared with his messy hair sticking up.

“Teacher Xie,” Xuan Caiyan whispered, “here’s your water.”

Xie Jixing hadn’t fully woken up yet. He paused, looking at her suspiciously.

What’s her goal this time? Is she going to scold me again?

“Uh…” Xuan Caiyan hesitated. “Can I join your actions today?”

Oh, she just wants to freeload.

Before Xie Jixing could respond, Xuan Caiyan pulled a red envelope from her backpack. “Protection fee.”

“Pft.” Qian Shuyun, tidying up nearby, almost laughed out loud. What a scene.

Xie Jixing weighed the thickness of the envelope and, satisfied, put it away. “Alright, follow along.”

Once everyone gathered, after discussion, they all agreed that under Xie Jixing’s guidance, their task progress was well ahead, so they decided to reserve a day to prepare supplies.

The shrimp traps they had set in the sea yesterday actually yielded some results—several shrimp and swimming crabs, all fairly large.

After cleaning them, they cooked a solid pot of seafood porridge with crushed compressed biscuits.

The stone slabs underneath weren’t idle either, sizzling away as they roasted the remaining bamboo worms.

This time, they roasted them a little darker, then wrapped them in leaves to make snack-sized jerky—perfect for an energy boost whenever they got hungry.

After the seafood porridge was done, they sprinkled some wild garlic leaves for flavor. Everyone ate heartily, not even lifting their heads.

“This show can’t continue, phew,” Luo Feiang mumbled, stuffing his face. “If we keep filming, my six-pack’s gonna become one-pack!”

Although Meng Zezhou didn’t have a six-pack, he nodded vigorously, instantly recalling the fear of being controlled by an agent.

On the beach, with the morning chill still lingering, a hot bowl of seafood porridge made the hard work of the coming day feel exciting.

“Let’s go pick coconuts!” After tidying up the leftovers, Xie Jixing stuffed some charcoal into his bag and led everyone toward the coconut grove.

The path through the forest must have left Xuan Caiyan some psychological scars, so everyone tacitly chose another route, going around the island.

After crossing this beach and a stretch of rocky terrain, they would see the coconut grove.

The rocky path was difficult, with uneven stones and many loose rocks that could easily wobble underfoot.

Between the stones were many wet, slippery pebbles washed ashore. Everyone walked cautiously with their heads down.

Then, they encountered delight!

This sea area had a typical semi-diurnal tide. The morning tide had just receded, making it perfect for foraging.

“What’s this?” Luo Feiang’s toes were pricked painfully through his shoes. He squatted to look—a cluster of shells. “Come here! Mussels!”

He tried prying one by hand… no luck.

As Xie Jixing walked, he pulled out some bamboo skewers from his backpack that he had carved earlier. He inserted the pointed end into the crevice between shell and rock and gently levered. A whole mussel popped out.

Luo Feiang tossed the shell into his shrimp trap and grabbed a skewer. “Let me try.”

The skewer had been tempered with Xie Jixing’s “hidden fire,” making it hard but not brittle, almost like metal. Though clumsy, Luo Feiang managed to pry one out.

The top-tier celebrity grinned like a 160-pound kid. “So fat! You all find some too, then we’ve got our meal for the day.”

Everyone, like children receiving little red flowers in kindergarten, collected bamboo skewers and tongs from Teacher Xie. The rocky shore echoed with childish cries of “Wow!”

Among them was a single sharp “Ah!”

Xie Jixing was the first to notice—it came from Meng Zezhou.

Though far apart, and with the rocky terrain making movement difficult, Xie Jixing’s steps were fast and steady. Jumping and running, he was the first to reach Meng Zezhou.

“Boss Meng, what happened?” Xie Jixing asked.

A boss in trouble demands first-response service—that’s just the level of care.

“Stung by something, I think.” Meng Zezhou held up his right index finger, which had a deep cut, bleeding steadily.

Because he had pulled back quickly, his hand was also scraped by rough rocks.

Xie Jixing grabbed a bottle of purified water from the crew—he hadn’t drunk it yet—and said, “Raise your finger.”

Using precious drinking water to clean a wound made Meng Zezhou feel slightly embarrassed. “No need, just wipe it off.”

“Hurry.” Xie Jixing narrowed his eyes, voice serious.

Meng Zezhou reluctantly raised his still-bleeding hand. Xie Jixing held his wrist and ran water over the wound.

“Ow.” The wound stung a bit. He gasped.

“Endure it.” Without looking up, Xie Jixing took an unused thin bamboo skewer and carefully removed the sand particles that water hadn’t washed away.

Luo Feiang poked Fei Zhehan from behind, whispering, “Teacher Xie is so fierce.”

After picking out the sand, Xie Jixing carried his stainless-steel bottle to the seaside. With the rocks and water levels uneven, running was risky. Qian Shuyun grabbed him. “What are you doing?”

“I need to make some saline solution. His wound is swollen and red. We have to rinse it with salt water.”

Qian Shuyun grabbed his arm but didn’t question its feasibility. He whispered a warning, “This might cause public controversy.”

“Oh, right,” Xie Jixing said to the camera, cueing the editor, “can you add a line here: ‘No professional training—do not imitate!’”

As for being scolded, let the haters scold. He won’t lose flesh, but if he doesn’t rinse Meng Zezhou’s wound, the finger might actually lose tissue.

The audience was stunned.

【Did I hear that right? Xie Jixing is doing what?!】

【Saline solution? Can you even make that from seawater? Don’t mess with it!】

【Medical students outraged!】

【This is hilarious—he’s crazy, yet gives a professional warning. He wants to use seawater to make saline—no survival expert would dare.】

【Wait, where can I even get such professional training?】

Xia Letian, after leaving the show, was naturally unwilling to let this slide.

Although he had a moral advantage, live-reality formats could easily reverse reputations, especially survival shows.

He privately contacted internet trolls, asking them to amplify every controversy, targeting Xie Jixing and Xuan Caiyan. Once their images were tarnished, he could hype himself as the victim to regain popularity.

The trolls got a ready-made controversy.

【This crew is crazy! Using seawater as saline and no one stops them?】

【For views, they’ll do anything now, huh?】

【This is reckless! Weren’t Xie and Meng friends? I think Xie’s trying to kill Meng!】

【It’s at a level you could call the police on. One wrong pour and Meng might need amputation.】

Screenshots, GIFs, and short clips spread rapidly on social media.

#XieJixing endangers life, making saline from seawater to clean teammate’s wound.

Sensational headline, out-of-context clips—the effect was explosive.

【??? I was offline a few days and the entertainment industry’s gone crazy?】

【The minor celebrity is so confident! How dare he pull this stunt?】

【Even playing the friendship card doesn’t justify this. Doesn’t Meng resist?】

【It’s just CP hype, started from that escape-room show. Boosting CP popularity—risking infection is fine.】

【Everyone else watches coldly, no one stops this madman? The show’s doomed.】

The show’s ratings skyrocketed because of this trending topic. Huiyao Entertainment, only interested in viewership, didn’t care. Since the company’s own artist wasn’t being criticized, they let it ride.

Xie Jixing poured half a bottle of seawater. The sea breeze prevented the camera from capturing it, but Qian Shuyun clearly saw a small wisp of white smoke drifting from the stainless-steel bottle.

The place where Xie Jixing had held the kettle had already changed color—there was a reddish mark, like metal that had been scorched by high heat, shaped like a palm.

Qian Shuyun felt a pang of sympathy for the little money-lover. That burn must have cost a lot to treat. Even the protection money Meng Zezhou had given wasn’t enough to cover the cost of burning just one finger.

Xie Jixing used his Yin Fire to burn away all the impurities and bacteria in the seawater. He poured the purified seawater into the remaining half-bottle of drinking water, shook it evenly, then grabbed Meng Zezhou’s wrist again. “It will hurt. Don’t move. Endure it.”

A bottle of saline solution was poured over the wound just like that.

“Mm.” Meng Zezhou groaned—it really hurt!

He realized that Xie Jixing hadn’t lied; the wound burned and stung terribly, especially the large scraped area, making him tear up. It was incredibly embarrassing.

After rinsing with saline, Xie Jixing asked Meng Zezhou, “What pinched you? Is it still there?”

With tears in his eyes, Meng Zezhou pouted and pointed with his chin toward a long seashell on the rocks.

A seashell can pinch someone?

Everyone crowded over to see the culprit.

Xie Jixing poked it with a bamboo stick, flipping the shell over. Out crawled a clawing hermit crab.

The culprit was actually kind of cute.

Everyone looked at Meng Zezhou with pitying affection. “If anyone’s unlucky, it’s you!”

The hermit crab was still young, small in size, and had only one big claw. Xie Jixing acted swiftly and decisively, pinching it and tying it up tightly with a straw rope, waving it in front of Meng Zezhou. “Take this back to camp and cook it to get revenge for Boss Meng.”

“Let’s go back to camp,” he said, reaching out to pull Meng Zezhou up from the ground.

“Ah,” Meng Zezhou looked confused. “Aren’t we going to pick coconuts?”

“Your hands are like this. You need to get treated first. How can you still be thinking about coconuts?” Xie Jixing shot him a sideways glance.

“Oh, it’s fine. You’ve already helped me handle it,” Meng Zezhou felt bad for delaying everyone because of his own problem. “Really, it’s fine. I’ll just be more careful later. No need to go back to camp.”

“Meng Meng, stop being stubborn and listen to Teacher Xie,” Fei Zhehan’s fatherly tone cut in. “You young people nowadays don’t take your own body seriously. When you get older, you’ll regret it.”

Meng Zezhou: But Teacher Fei, you’re only 40.

“Exactly, and a scar wouldn’t look good either. Later, if you do hand close-ups, you’d have to cover it with concealer.” The attention of a top-tier star is always on the top-tier details.

Xuan Caiyan didn’t say anything, just sniffled a couple of times.

“Let’s go. The coconuts won’t run away; you can pick them anytime.” Xie Jixing made the decision, carefully pulling Meng Zezhou along.

His nose felt a little sore. Meng Zezhou lowered his head and rubbed it gently. The pain in his hand was real, not because he was moved—he wouldn’t cry out of gratitude. A little embarrassing.

Control yourself, Meng Zezhou. You’re a tough guy. With so many cameras on you, keep it together!

“Waa~~”

Who’s crying? Could it be me?

Meng Zezhou was a bit dazed and glanced back. At the rear of the group, Xuan Caiyan had completely broken down into tears.

Huh? Why is she crying?

Xuan Caiyan’s tears finally couldn’t be held back. Xie Jixing’s attitude toward Meng Zezhou reminded her of what had happened yesterday.

She had known Xia Letian for over ten years, but Xie Jixing and Meng Zezhou had only known each other for a few months.

Yet their treatment of friends was completely different.

Xia Letian could leave her alone in the forest, not caring whether she lived or died.

Xie Jixing, however, didn’t care about his own reputation or fame when it came to Meng Zezhou.

For an entertainer, those things are extremely important, but in Xie Jixing’s eyes, they were less important than the small wound on Meng Zezhou’s hand.

“What’s going on now?” Teacher Xie, exasperated, watched Xuan Caiyan cry as she walked toward him.

“Hic…Teacher Xie…sorry…sob…” Xuan Caiyan finally said what she had held in her heart for almost a day. “I shouldn’t have said those things to you…hic.”

“Thank you…thank you for saving me…”

And so, the camp now had a crying girl and an injured man.

The director’s heart raced. “What now?”

Outdoor programs are really thrilling—something new happens every day!

After seeing Meng Zezhou’s wound, he immediately called the medical team. “Quick, come and check it.”

The doctor from the medical team was a retired military medic. The old man sat straight, picked up Meng Zezhou’s hand, and said, “It’s already been rinsed with clean water and saline.”

“All the impurities have been removed.”

“The treatment was very timely,” he added, flipping Meng Zezhou’s hand left and right. “Otherwise, if we did it now, part of the infected tissue might have had to be surgically removed.”

Meng Zezhou shivered. He had decided—henceforth, Xie Jixing was his sworn father.

He would definitely take good care of Xie Jixing from now on!

The doctor applied some iodine and dressed the wound without holding back, causing Meng Zezhou to cry out loudly. Two streams of tears slid uncontrollably down his cheeks.

The old man wrapped it up neatly, even tying a little bow.

The audience watched in suspense.

【I admit I just yelled too loudly at Xie Jixing.】

【If he hadn’t rushed into the water, Meng Meng might have had to dig the wound himself. Just thinking about it makes my hair stand on end.】

【Why do I feel like the old medic regrets not being able to debride Meng Zezhou’s wound properly?】

【Xie Jixing is reckless with human life!】

【I heard he’s an old military doctor. Hahaha, rough and ruthless hands!】

【Directly painful enough to make someone cry, but with a bow as a reward.】

【The production team didn’t censor it just to get attention!】

【You have to ship this Xing-Zhou pair! Xie Jixing is really gentle with Meng Meng!】

The paid commenters tried to dominate the chat, but nobody paid attention. They were awkwardly squeezed in, truly becoming robot commenters.

The dissatisfied team tried moving to another fan community to stir trouble, but were stunned.

Rehot was no longer in charge of trends; a CP fan had taken over.

【New Xing-Zhou content—aren’t you going to ship it?!】

Clicking in, they saw a well-edited mixed clip, cinematic and professional.

The video used footage from a small secret-room variety show.

Xie Jixing, in traditional Xiuhe clothing, and Meng Zezhou, dressed as a young master, fought from bed to floor, but the audio was from the beach.

Only the upper body was shown.

In the hazy light, Meng Zezhou pinned Xie Jixing down, holding both his wrists, while Xie Jixing struggled, “Hurry up.”

Then it changed to Xie Jixing straddling Meng Zezhou, leaning down, “Endure it.”

The final still was at the bottom of a well, Xie Jixing pinched Meng Zezhou’s chin, turning his face to the camera, smiling strangely, “It will hurt. Don’t move. Endure it.”

Meng Meng’s only lines were “Mm…hiss…ah…ha.”

The replies below were all a golden-yellow tone.

【I thought we were shipping a CP? Our CP is full-on!】

【Seems reversed. Meng Meng looks like the submissive one.】

【Huh? Isn’t the strong beautiful seme appealing? The sub is sub!】

【Girls, think differently. Open your minds—strong beautiful uke, isn’t that appealing?】

【Yes! All appealing! Divine-quality content! Big, more, more!】

Seeing the feedback, Qi Zhen silently closed his laptop and rubbed his sore shoulders.

Editing videos—he hadn’t done it in a long time, but his skill was as sharp as ever.

As a competent manager, how could he not know the skill of “shipping CP to sway public opinion”?

If someone deliberately spreads negativity, don’t block it—redirect attention.

Now, trending searches had become a Xing-Zhou CP fan celebration. As for reckless endangerment—no one cared.

Given their relationship, whatever Xie Jixing did, Meng Zezhou would give his life for him!

In an unnoticed corner, a few new accounts quietly formed a fan group.

【Girls, shall we ship a bit of a cult? Star-Yun CP?】

【Super awesome! Others only care if Teacher Xie is strong. Only President Qian cares if he’s getting scolded!】

【Divine-quality content! Aren’t you going to ship it?】

【Come on, come on!】

A passing Xing-Zhou fan.

【Wow, even crab legs this obscure have shippers? You guys must really be hungry!】